of agencies offer overworked parents home childcare

It’s lunch break for Rita and Leonardo. Rita has been teleworking regularly since the beginning of the month, but this week for her, it’s teleworking full time and with her five-year-old son. “We have no choice but to keep our children with us and work with them”, says the mother. Coloring, card games, Rita takes advantage of a break to play with him. But at the beginning of the afternoon, she has to go back to her screens and let Leonardo take care of himself, in his room or in front of the television.

“He still has trouble understanding, why if mom and dad are at home, they can’t take care of him”, says Rita Barbato. To avoid finding themselves without a solution when their child’s class closes, or to avoid chaotic teleworking at home, parents can turn to agencies that offer home childcare, such as the agency babychou, based in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne). In recent times, due to Covid-19, requests have increased sharply.